An Ancient Poem Recited by the Waterside
by shinobug
Summary: ch.1 A SOLDIER's Struggle is about Cloud and Zack while they're in Shinra. A few OCs, but they do not play major roles as of now. Disclaimer: Cannon characters are not mine, Ocs are. ZackxCloud Yaoi
1. Ch1: A SOLDIER

An Ancient Poem Recited by the Waterside

_...If I am ever in a bind.  
...My hero will come rescue me..._

.:A SOLDIER's Struggle:.

"Hey! Wake up!" a coarse voice called out to a young boy who had fallen asleep in the back of the transportation bus. Blue eyes focused as the blur of sleep faded. Blond spikes bobbed as the young male grabbed his things and left the vehicle. "Hey! Cloud!" Blue eyes met with almost as blue orbs that belonged to a rather strange boy from Nibelheim, "Daniel... You do realize that you can't have your hair like that, right?" Cloud stared at the boy's light brown hair that was gelled into a fauxhawk and had random dyed stripes of cotton candy pink placed everywhere. His eyes looked over the boy who was dressed in girl pants with a black studded belt (which did nothing because the pants were so small they were not even covering his ass), a light blue shirt with random abstract designs covering most of the right side of the rather tight fitting article of clothing, a small black hoodie with more abstract designs covering the majority of the front, random bracelets and chains hanging from him, rainbow colored nails, yellow (left foot) and orange (right foot) high top converse, and a few piercings (including a left helix, both lobes, tongue, and right side of bottom lip.  
Danny giggled, "Silly! I know that!" he then pouted, "Which is a shame, because I totally love styling my hair..." Cloud held back a laugh, not wanting to break the news about his outfit, "Hey, where are we?" He scanned the area, "Looks like a resort town..." as they walked toward the beach to take in the view, Daniel noticed a rather large cargo ship to the right of the beach, "Looks like we've got to take that ship in order to get to Midgar..." Cloud followed his cohort toward the docking area in hopes that they'd catch the boat before it left.

"Costa del Sol..." Cloud caught sight of a 'welcome to' sign as he and Daniel walked up the stairs and over the bridge to get to the docks, "How far away do you think Nibelheim is?" almost crashing into Danny when he stopped to ask the question, Cloud grumbled, "Like I know? Come on..." this time Cloud grabbed the other by the left bicep and practically dragged the boy before he decided to actually walk for himself.

A soft thud was the result of Daniel tossing his bag toward the railing where he leaned against and sighed, "Don't be shy, Cloud! It's just the open water..." Cloud joined his friend by the side, his bag still strapped to his back, "What are you doing?" he tensed when Daniel sat up on the railing of the boat, "Get down!" Cloud said in a panicked voice. Daniel only laughed, "Chill out man!" he rose his hands in defense while slipping his foot into the loop to his bag, Cloud was about to grab him when the boat lurched from a wave.

* * *

He was alone... Lost within the crowd of new recruits as they were herded into the Shinra training facility. Cloud lost one of his only friends from Nibelheim on the boat ride over. Around four days had already passed since the ship arrived at Junon and from where Cloud was transferred by jeep to Midgar.

Apart of their training was getting to Midgar. Not only did they have to survive the boat ride over, but the jeep could only take them as far as Mythril Mines where the recruits had to hike through to the other side where more jeeps were waiting to race through the marshes while keeping out of reach of the Midgar Zolom. Getting to be a part of the Shinra Army was not an easy task. One had to prove themselves worthy, and what better way to do it than on their way to their destination (not like that was the original plan, but President Shinra decided to consider it as extra training).

Cloud was placed into a platoon of fifteen men commanded by a Second Class SOLDIER (Any women recruits were placed into their own platoons to help prevent sex crimes among the soldiers). His platoon was Bandersnatch. Each platoon had their own 'home'; fully equipped with: kitchen, living room, bed rooms (each squad had their own room-five men to a room-while the Commander had his own apartment), bathroom (five of everything), rec room. The 'home' was divided into two levels; the three bedrooms upstairs along with the bathroom.  
The house had a rather convenient layout: You walked into the living room from the front door, to the right of the living room was a staircase and a rather large kitchen, straight back was a hall way with an extra room on each side while the rec room was the door at the very end of the hall. Cloud and the others flooded into the house to check out what they'd be dealing with.

The commander called for everyone to join in the living room, there he would assign them into squads and then rooms. Each squad would later receive a special set of orders; Cloud's would end up with kitchen duty for the week.  
When the recruits were allowed to go free, Cloud and his squad went to claim their bunks. In the room were two sets of bunks shoved into a corner (the extra space left between them and the wall was made for a table for the bottom and a built-in table for the top), while the other bed was on the other side of the room. One of the extra rooms downstairs was a locker room where their objects and uniforms could be stored away.  
The four other men Cloud was with were familiar with each other and took the bunks, so that meant Cloud got the lone bed. While the others were screwing around, Cloud ventured downstairs to view the rest of the home. He found that the door on the right side of the hallway led to a basement that was used as a small training room.

* * *

There was an "Officer's Club" where the recruits would go to hang out on their off time to get drunk, find higher ranking personnel to bother, and just do whatever. Because it was the first day for the recruits, the place was mostly filled with just higher ups (since most of the lowers were too busy to even notice the building). 

Cloud sat at the bar, drinking some coffee and grimacing as a drunk Third Class played piano. The tender laughed, "Pretty bad, huh?" Cloud looked to him, a rather tanned individual with dark hair and a way with drinks, "If you mean the drunken freak disgracing that piano, then yes..." Cloud eyed the drunk and heard the tender laugh again, "Oh! I thought you were making faces at the coffee..." he sighed, looking at the boy and how he watched the piano, "You play?" Cloud shrugged, "I was never taught properly... A neighborhood girl of mine had a piano... I used to play on it"  
A hand came colliding with the back of a still casually clad Cloud, his eyes widening as his teeth clenched. He spun in his chair to glare at whom it was who hit him... He couldn't, however, glare at the goofy idiot who was grinning at him, "Drinking that stuff without booze, eh? You've got guts!" the man, whom Cloud realized was one of the higher ranking men, shrugged, "I'll live." The barkeep laughed again, more hearty this time.

"Zack Fair," the SOLDIER held his hand out to Cloud, that same grin on his face. "Cloud Strife..." he shook the man's hand wearily, almost afraid that he was wearing a hand buzzer of some sort; he blamed the smile. "Hey, Yoru! Stop killing that piano!" Zack shouted at the drunk fool on the worn instrument. Cloud watched as Yoru stumbled away, to sick to continue. When Cloud turned back, he looked into his cup, "Did you tamper with my drink?" He asked Zack, still staring into his cup. "No... Why?" He looked at Cloud and chuckled, "Because there's an olive floating in it..." he looked to Zack, "and you have an empty glass..."

Moments later Cloud was ushered to the piano by Zack, "C'mon! play something!" Cloud tried to back out, "But I can't even pl-!" he was shoved into the stool, "No buts! Now play! And that's an order!" he gave Cloud a wink as he backed up toward the bar to sit and listen.  
Defeated, Cloud made himself comfortable on the old, but sturdy piano bench. His eyes ran over the keys and his fingers gently familiarized themselves by stroking them softly. Before he knew what he was playing, Cloud's fingers just started pressing down the ivory and creating the familiar tune he and his childhood friend, Tifa, would play.  
After getting used to the feel and the sound of the piano, Cloud fastened his pace (he feared the first few minutes were too slow and depressing for the bar).

More barflies were starting to zone in on the bar and Zack decided to pluck Cloud away before he was molested by either a recruit or another soldier. Cloud was actually a little happy to leave, "You really can play!" Zack teased as they left.


	2. Ch2: A Bit of Relief

An Ancient Poem Recited by the Waterside

.:A Bit of Relief:.

_"What rank are you?" Cloud asked Zack as they stopped to watch the sunset. Zack took a moment to answer, his mind was wandering and his was a little buzzed, "Second Class... I am being taught by First Class SOLDIER Angeal..." Cloud made an 'o' from his lips as he slowly nodded his head, "Where are you from?" Zack looked at Cloud, not as irritated as he thought he'd be when a rookie started asking him questions, "Gongaga... You?"_

_Cloud looked to the sky as if hoping his mother was watching the same sun set; he knew his mother loved to watch the sun set and rise, "Nibelheim..." he felt Zack's hand skim across his left should to his right before he was pulled into a hug, "Don't look so sad!"_

Cloud woke, his blanket hugging him almost as tight as Zack did about fourteen days ago. Like usual, Cloud rose from bed, observed the clock, and went to rise his roommates. "Dante... It's six, get up..." Their alarm clock was set for six thirty, but preferred to get up at six, so didn't mind when Cloud pestered them.

Dante was on the bottom bunk on the opposite wall from Cloud's bed. He turned next to Joel.

* * *

After eating breakfast with his house, they all headed off to their appointed traing ground where they formed up and awaited for their Commander whom showed up no less than two minutes later. 

Commander Mohan watched proudly as his platoon did their morning routine of twenty laps before falling back into their spots. "Troops! You are well on your way to becoming a great asset to the Shinra Army." he scanned the soldiers, not seeing a single one move, "I am proud of you! Shinra is proud of you!" as he spoke he paced before his platoon, arms folded in the small of his back. Mohan stepped back into his place at the head of his troops, "For your hard work during the past two weeks... You will have a week of vacation... I expect you to use your time wisely... Just because you will be on vacation does not mean you can fool around and break rules! If you do you will be sorely punished..." one more look, "dismissed!"

* * *

Three days of solitude thus far... Seventeen without Zack... Twentyfour without Daniel... Cloud had taken the opportunity to venture the base more. He neared the house of Smogger Platoon and noticed that their bodies and practice weapons were in bad shape. The weapons looked like they were about to break and the recruits looked like they were about to die from one too many wounds. 

Later, Cloud found himself watching walking with the sunset as headed back for home. He shivered, not from the cold, rather the sky. Cloud never really took a liking to the natural sky. The skies of Nibelheim were almost always filled with dark mako-infused clouds.

"Hey!" Cloud tensed before spinning on his heel to answer the person who called after him, "Yes?" A rather tall man wearing a dark blue suit with raven black hair slicked back into a ponytail and a black chakra upon his forehead approached the blond, "You're Cloud?" he nodded, "Ah, good! Here, It's from Zack. You should watch it sometime." he waited for a response before leaving, "Zack?" Cloud looked up at the man, "Why would he send me something?" the other shrugged, "I don't know, maybe you should see what he has to say in that." he nodded his head toward the small device in the boy's hand, "I also suggest you to keep that away from your house mates..."

Since it was their vacation, no one in the house was using the training room; instead they were all horsing around upstairs and outside. So Cloud took the man's advice and hid the device until he could sneak into the training room to figure out whatever it was that Zack had sent him.

* * *

"'Watch it' he said... How? Oh!" Cloud stumbled upon a button, pressing it and shocking himself as the device turned on. It was a movie of Zack fooling around with the camera. 

_Zack's voice could be heard as the camera bounced around (he must be walking). "Hey, Chocobo! Sorry I haven't been around... I forgot to tell you about a mission I'm on... Then again I don't think the higher ups would want a lowly soldier as yourself to be knowing what kind of shit they have me doing..." Red filled the screen, and then cliffs, "This is Cosmo Canyon... Ever been here, Spike? Doubt it... I hear joining the army was a big step for you..."_

_The camera stopped and whooshed around until Zack's face was on, "I hope you made the right decision in trying to get into SOLDIER... I have to warn you though, most recruits end up as those idiot guards you see around the base or anywhere in Midgar... If you traveled, I'm sure you'd see them in other places like Kalm." next to appear on the screen was one of the locals of the town, "This is a local, Cloud! These guys are so in tune with the earth that Shinra is wanting to know some of their secrets! Funny huh? Shinra is quietly admitting that they don't know everything, but I know they do... They just want these kind folk to do the work for them!" Zack chuckled as the local rolled his eyes and walked away laughing._

_The screen went black for a moment before fizzing back in on another screen. Zack was alone in a room of the Cosmo Inn and had placed the camera in a spot where the viewer could see him as he sat on the edge of the bed, "Shinra is wanting to capture a creature that lives here. Shinra's top professor, Hojo, has requested this animal for his research. I do not want to doubt him, but I feel weird... Almost like it's wrong for me to be doing this." Zack shook his head, the whole time staring at the ground, "But I have to do this..." he sighed heavily, not hearing the sound of the door opening and then closing, "This town will hate us very soon..."_

_"Zack, what are you doing?" another man had entered the room and occupied the bed behind Zack, "You sending a video to that boy you're constantly talking about?" Zack jumped up from his bed, spinning around to face the other, "Angeal, you talk as if I'm sending my boyfriend a letter!" the other, Angeal, laughed, "Isn't he your lover? You talk about him enough..." Zack shrugged, "Nah, we're just friends... Besides, I just met him! I'm not going to jump in his pants that quickly... FUCK! The camera is still on!" next thing you see is Zack glomping the camera and shutting it off._

_"Well, Cloud... I should be back soon, so I'll see you later..." The movie ended with Zack blowing the camera a kiss, Angeal with his arms crossed in the background, Sephiroth walking to stand next to Angeal and then a date: 23.4_

The projection shut off automatically as the film ended, "Twenty third of June... that was a week ago..." Cloud sighed, scratching the back of his neck, "Lesse, Cosmo Canyon was... Okay, Nibelheim, Cosmo Canyon, Gold Saucer, Costa del Sol..." he pictured the world map in his head, pointing at the invisible cities before his eyes, "Ocean..." he dragged his finger across the air a short distance, "Junon... Then down to that one town just outside of Mythril Mines... Through the mines to that Chocobo Farm and then straight up to Midgar since that Kalm town is over there a little bit..." he frowned, "He should be back here by now..."

* * *

Another fourteen days since the 'gift' from Zack. Fourteenth of July at 0900 during the morning twenty-lap run of Bandersnatch Platoon did that same man from before show up. As Cloud ran, he watched as the suited man and his commander spoke, the well-dressed man pointing out onto the field. He over heard some of the cadets behind him freak out over seeing the man, "Dude! That's Tseng of the Turks!" another one gasped, "No way! What's he doing out here?!" 

As the soldiers finished their laps, the formed up like usual, only this time they were real stiff (wanting to impress the all mighty Turk). Commander Mohan gave his troops the instructions of going to the training field, "Dismissed!" he yelled. Cloud stayed, he noticed the look Tseng gave him, it told him not to move.

Other cadets noticed that Cloud was staying behind and when they saw Tseng approach him, their tempers flew, "What makes him so special? Is it the bitch factor about him?"

Both Cloud and Tseng ignored the bitch comment and bade the Commander goodbye as he followed the rest of the Platoon out onto the field. "What is it?" Cloud was nervous around this man, "Is it about Zack?" Tseng nodded, "Follow me..." without waiting for the boy's response, he walked off toward the main Shinra building, Cloud only a few feet behind.


	3. Author's note

Hey there! I am working on chapter 4, so no worries. I am having a little issue with writer's block. It's not that I don't know what to write, just that I don't know how to put it together D:

So here's the thing:

Chapter three is pron. I haven't written it yet... Well I've got three paragraphs. I'm a little rusty in writing porn, so I am skipping chapter three for now until I am confident enough to pull it together.

Here's some things that happen ins chapter 3:

Tseng takes Cloud to see Zack in the hospital.

Zack is totally fine. He was just there because Angeal told him to get checked over after their last mission.

Tseng leaves Cloud with Zack. He locked the door behind him and left Cloud to get raped.

Yes, raped. Why? Because I have it in my mind that Shinra is the type of military who would rape the pretty looking men.

So chapter four is going to start out with Cloud being freaked out.

I posted this here for you all to understand the sudden gap.

Thank you for reading. I will update soon


	4. Ch4: Why

Why

Cloud snuck back into his room the next morning. He had attempted to be as quiet as a mouse, but his bed decided to creak and cause the other four to wake. They were not happy to see him, "Hi...?" Cloud squeaked out while removing his shoes.  
Dante sat up glaring, "So, what did Tseng want with you?" Cloud swallowed, "Nothing important..." he became more unsettled when Dante got up and took a seat next to him on the bed, "Jeez, Cloud... What happened to you?" he was so angry when he got a closer look at the boy's lips and throat.

Joel had gotten up to turn on the light, "Wow... You a bitch now or something?" Cloud glared, "No! At least, I don't think I am..." he sighed, running a hand through his hair, "Tseng took me to see Zack-" he was cut of by Dante who howled, "Who? That Second Class?" he nodded, "Yes, him. Next thing I knew, Tseng left, the door was locked, and Zack..." he paused, biting his lip, "Look, I don't want to talk about it... It's nothing to get angry at me over, in fact this whole platoon should just forget about it." he knew that the others had saw him and Tseng leave yesterday, so he knew there'd be trouble later.

Marcus, who slept above Dante, jumped down from his bunk, "So you're saying that Zack raped you?" he laughed, causing Cloud to snap back, "I have the injuries to prove it!" Marcus smirked, "Then prove it."  
And prove it he did. Cloud showed his body to the four guys, not really caring at the moment as he really didn't like to be called a liar, "So then Shinra like to pick out the pretty boys and make them their toys?" Joel asked as Cloud redressed himself, "Looks like it..." he mumbled, "Whatever... it's almost six... It's our turn to cook, right?" he asked, not needing to take a shower since Zack had offered him one already.

* * *

Knowing the truth, Cloud's roommates defended him for the rest of the day. He appreciated it, though he told them they didn't have to. Cloud was pulled aside by the Commander during training, he wanted to congratulate him on his work well done, "Strife, I heard good news from Tseng. Looks like you're a new favorite of Fair... Oh! Speak of the devil!" Cloud looked behind him and paled.  
Zack was making his way toward the blond, a smirk on his lips, "Hey there Spike!" he patted him on the head, ruffling his spikes. Cloud glared and knocked Zack's hand away, "Piss off..." he spat before walking back to his squad.  
Mohan was shocked at Cloud's behavior just then, "I beg your pardon, Zack... Cloud is not usually like that..." he paused when Zack held up a hand, "Nah, it's fine. He was pretty pissed last night... punched me real good in the chest." he chuckled, his eyes on the blond the entire time

* * *

Later while Bandersnatch was sent on a twenty minute sprint around the training fields, Zack had perched himself atop a first aid shack. He watched in amusement as Cloud almost tripped, but snorted in anger when another platoon member pushed the blond over.  
Zack made a mental note to severely punish that cadet later. For the moment he chose to appear next to Cloud who was dusting himself off, "Jeez, what's his problem?" the blond jumped, having not noticed Zack until he spoke, "What do you want?" he asked, though he knew he should have just ignored the SOLDIER.  
"Wanna race?" Zack asked, wanting to lighten up the mood with the boy, "No..." was his reply along with the fleeing form of Cloud. He ignored Spike's response and joined him in running. "Stop following me!" he snarled at the SOLDIER, his face flushing suddenly.

Zack chuckled, "Are you sure you want me to leave?" he poked fun, "You're not still made at me for last night, are you?" he struck a nerve within Cloud. He didn't even have a chance to duck before an angry fist collided with his face, "Fuck you!" Cloud hissed, standing his ground.  
The SOLDIER wiped his mouth while getting back onto his feet, he smirked at the boy, "Didn't think you'd hit me!" he held up his hands in defense and tensed when Cloud clenched his fists and held a look that said 'I'll do it again...', "Whoa! Chill out, Choco!" his rump met the ground again as Cloud socked him once more, "Shit, man!" he swore as he got his wits about him again.  
Cloud softened up, "How did a wimp like you get to be in SOLDIER?" Zack looked up at him with a hurt expression. He stood and grinned, "Wimp, huh? You couldn't even defend yourself from me!" he took a threatening step toward the blond, who only looked at him with a frightened look, "Deer... in... headlights..." Zack said his words slowly as he filled a fist full of shirt, pulling the cadet up off the ground.

* * *

Cloud couldn't sleep particularly well that night. Zack hadn't hurt him earlier, so that wasn't what was bothering him. What kept him up was the sound of a platoon member leaving the house.  
He didn't like hearing the pounding on the door, and then the slight tussle before the door slam. No one else seemed to have been bothered by it, so Cloud tried to ignore it.

"Why didn't I just stay in bed?" Cloud mumbled to himself as he roamed the campus. The yellow lights that illuminated the grounds caused Cloud to feel as though he were in a dream. And in that dream he stumbled upon a bloodied body, "What?" Cloud stiffened as he stared down at his platoon mate.  
He turned the body over with his foot. No response, "fuck, is he dead?" he looked at the body a little more closely, jumping away from it and moving for the shadows when the sound of boots reached his ears.

A man in red was walking the grounds next to, "Sephiroth?" the name ghosted past Cloud's lips as he stared on from the shadows. When the two men took notice of the dead cadet, Cloud attempted to sneak off without getting caught.  
"Hold it!" he froze when Sephiroth called out to him. "Genesis, apprehend the suspect, would you?" the man in red smirked as he grabbed for Cloud, throwing him to the ground, "It's just a kid..." he said it with a laugh, a smirk still painted on his lips, "pretty little thing too..." he looked Cloud over, "..very..."  
Sephiroth looked the boy up and down, suddenly remembering something, "This is Cloud..." the blond's heart twitched and head spun when his idol identified him, "Zack never shuts up about him..." then Cloud's heart sunk, "What are you doing here?"

* * *

After telling the two first class men his story, they chose to punish Cloud by sending him to his second class nightmare... Zack. The aforementioned horndog was currently tending to his sword, his hormones oblivious to the piece of ass sitting across from him.  
"You look depressed... What's up Spike?" Cloud ignored the name, "One of my platoon mates is dead and I met my idol in the worst possible of ways..." he groaned. Zack looked up at him, "Who? Seph? Ha! What better way than to meet him under suspicion?" he chuckled at the glare he got, "That way you get more attention from the freak."  
"As for your platoon mate... Why should you care? He was being an ass to you anyways... Just think of it as training... You can't wimp out and sob every time you see a dead body-" Cloud cut in, "I did not cry! And what are you saying? That he was killed because of me?" Zack shrugged and that's when it donned on the blond, "...You? You killed him? For me?" Zack laughed, "Hell, I would've killed him for a Klondike Bar!" he set his sword aside, "But... Yes, I did. I didn't like him. Shinra didn't like him..."

Cloud sat and thought for a while, "That doesn't seem like you, Zack..." the other snorted, "And you know me? ha ha, ah... but you're right. I wouldn't normally do that. I didn't plan on killing him anyways... He just sorta... died..." he said the word rather bluntly and received a small chuckle from Cloud, "Thanks... I didn't like him either..." he confessed, smiling shyly at the dark haired male.  
He scratched the back of his head, taken aback by Cloud's sudden show of positive emotion toward him. He stood, picking up his blade to put it safely away. Zack retreated into his room, emerging seconds later with a guitar that looked as though it had seen better days. He flashed a smile back at Cloud who was giving him an odd look as he wandered back over to the couch.

"You play guitar?" Cloud asked, looking the old acoustic up and down. Zack shrugged, "Some times. I brought this here with me... All the way from Gongaga..." after tuning it up, the calloused fingers of his left hand found their place on the neck while his right tickled the belly of the instrument.  
The music that came from the instrument made Cloud loosen up. He sat on the edge of his seat, closely listening to the tune, "wow..."

It wasn't long before Cloud found himself staring at Zack. He had such a pretty face that just said "stare at me". Even as Zack looked up, Cloud's gaze didn't falter. They stared into one another's eyes for the longest time and Zack just kept playing.  
Cloud moved so swiftly that Zack almost didn't notice. He placed his hands around the SOLDIER's neck and kissed him gently.


End file.
